On Tuesday 8 July 2025 I had a total joint replacement of my right knee. Over the past year and a half or so the osteoarthritis had gotten really bad, to the point that I couldn’t walk without pain. Much less actually do anything active, like hiking or tidepooling or even carrying a camera around to take pictures. I hobbled my way through winter and spring this year and finally got a surgery date, hopefully early enough in the summer to allow some degree of recovery before the fall school term begins.
One of the folks on the surgical team, who had been shepherding me through all of the more conservative treatments—cortisone shot, hyaluronate injections—told me that the recovery schedule for a total knee replacement (TKR) goes something like this:
- For the first four weeks I wouldn’t want to talk to anybody and would wonder why I let “them” talk me into this in the first place
- For the next several weeks I’d be willing to talk to people and might even say “Hi” to the medical folks
- After about six months I’d smile at the medical folks and will have regained much of my lost mobility
- After a year I’d want to take them all out for a drink
I am at Week 5. Last week I had my 4-week post-op appointment. The nurse practitioner had me do another set of X-rays, to make sure that the implant was still correctly positioned, and checked on my incision. The X-rays tell the story and reinforce that the surgery was indeed necessary.
The opaque white in the “After” image is the titanium implant, secured into my femur and tibia. The polymer cushion that replaces the worn-to-nonexistent cartilage doesn’t show up in X-rays. I had moderate osteoarthritis in all three compartments of the knee: lateral, medial, and patellar. Osteoarthritis only ever gets worse, and the conservative treatments can alleviate symptoms but don’t fix the underlying problem. Surgery was definitely needed. While he was in there replacing parts of my femur and tibia, the surgeon also completely reshaped my patella, shaving off the bone spurs and forming a smoother surface that will glide correctly between the femur and tibia. No more Rice Krispies in that knee!
Progress, right?